India has initiated an anti-subsidy probe into alleged increased imports of select copper wire rods from Indonesia, Malaysia, Thailand and Vietnam that led to complaints from domestic players that include Hindalco Industries and Vedanta Industries.

A story in Economic Times said that the commerce ministry’s investigating arm, the Directorate General of Trade Remedies (DGTR), has stated that production and exports of continuous cast copper wire rods in these four countries appear to be subsidized. That activity has caused material injury to the domestic industry through their volume and price effects, it said. The authority’s investigation will cover 12 months over 2017-18 as well as data from 2014-17.

The directorate will determine the existence, degree and effect of alleged subsidization. If found necessary, the office will recommend the appropriate amount of countervailing or anti-subsidy duties needed to protect the domestic industry.

In the application filed with the office by Hindalco Industries and Vedanta Industries (Sterlite Copper) on behalf of domestic industry, they claimed that the producers/exporters of the goods in these countries have benefited from the "actionable subsidies" provided at various levels by the governments of these countries, including their different provinces and municipalities, and asked for remedies.

India has already imposed countervailing and anti-dumping duties on various kinds of steel from China.